


Capsized

by purafollia



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-04-21 18:09:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14290458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purafollia/pseuds/purafollia
Summary: Extremely frigid temperatures cause the end of the world. What would you do, in the last time you had?UsUk, DenNor, HongIce, GerIta, PruCan, SuFin





	1. 1

It was rather early in the morning on an odd Saturday when the raining started. In places such as England and the Nordic countries, rain was normal, especially excessive amounts as this - but for countries as America and Italy, in the summer - of all times - as well, was peculiar to say the least.   
It annoyed the balls out of Alfred, who just wanted to be able to go outside - but it was raining day and night, heavily too. He heard that his friends by the coast line had it worse - the tide was coming up far too much, water rising to their doors, occasionally. In a country as this in a usually hot season this was unusual.

After the rain came hail. It was normal at first, small bits that still forbade you from exiting the house but nothing that would break windows, cars, walls or anything outside. Alfred got used to staying inside... until telephone lines were cut out. He lost contact with people, and couldn’t use the TV or the computer. It sucked, but he realised how serious of a situation this was rather quickly. If he was to be serious at any time, this was it. He got together his things and hid in a bunker he had in case of emergencies. It was sealed by strong metals - probably temperature proof - so he was safe. He had a portable stovetop, clothes, blankets, a mattress, water, a mini-fridge, coffee, drinks, food - anything you’d need. He got enough to sustain him to not go back up for a while.

Very quickly, he got lonely. He had nobody to talk to, and each day - at least, what he thought were days passing, since the sun clock he had was installed on the ground in his front yard, and he couldn’t see anything - were all the same. Get up, cook an egg. Rest. Write. Drink some soda. Sleep. Then it was the next day.

Yes, he was only cooking eggs. He wanted to savour his rations, because what if it really was the end of the world? Probably wasn’t but still. He wanted to be sure. One day, he found some plush toys he had in a box down there, and used them as friends. Don’t judge, okay? He was lonely and anyone does weird things when angry. He named the brown rabbit Arthur, the mouse Matthew, the cat Feliciano and the dog Ludwig. After that, nothing much happened, until he started shaking. After around 5 minutes, he realised that it wasn’t him, this was an earthquake.

Quickly, he took cover under the closest table he could find. He heard frames shattering, vases falling off the shelves. It was painful to his ears, and every frame or vase that fell, he could feel glass piercing his foot. It was more painful - physically - than anything he’d felt in the past few years, but Alfred had to bear through it. He curled up, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

...

By the time Alfred woke up, the table was flipped over, glass was all over the floor, and his fridge and other things he had here were on the ground and/or broken. Yeah, “why would you have frames and vases in a bunker?” Secretly, when it... wasn’t the end of the world, he used this place to hold kick-ass parties. Because it was soundproof, and, come on, who doesn’t want a party bunker? Jeez. But, as he stood up, he realized that this would need serious clean up if he was ever going to party in it again. An end of the world party? That’d be awesome. As much as he hated admitting it, he wanted to see his friends - Arthur, Ivan, Yao, Francis - the most. Whatever was above the bunker door, he hoped it would lead him to seeing them again most of all. He wasn’t going to open it, though, because of the incessant amount of clashing and scratches he could hear from above. It was obviously extreme amounts of hail, the hail the size of hackey-sacks or baseballs. That would shatter right on your head, if it hit your head. The fact that he was also seeing it dent and hit his bunker door, also implied that the roof of his house - or the whole thing - was gone, which sucked. I mean, it was worse than sucked, his house was practically gone - but everything he had there could be rebuilt or replaced. He bought anything super important to him with him down here - photos, keepsakes - that kind of thing. And anything important to his country was locked in a vault somewhere else in Washington, probably, where it was obviously (hopefully) safe. He had run out of eggs, which meant he was left with only soup cans, chips, and soda - so he considered trying to open the door, since the banging stopped recently.

In case in the next day he wanted to go up, he started packing his bag with what he wanted to stay with him, in case someone broke in while he was gone looking for people and food. He took his photos, books, and the majority of the filling food there - he left a bag of chips and one can of soup, because he thought if someone did break in, he wanted them to at least have some food. He was trying to be nice, you know? 

The photos he had with him were mostly of him and Arthur. He really missed him, even though he didn’t like to admit it. He hoped he was safe.

Aside from those, he also had a journal with him - because, imagine if he survived all this, it could become a bestselling book! - and a camera (polaroid) to document the journey. He also had gas masks, because he was prepared to find a situation up there where he couldn’t breathe well with the extreme temperatures. After he cleaned an area for him to lay down and made sure he packed everything, he tried to sleep.

...

“Letter 1

To, Arthur

Yes, Arthur! Hello. I know that this is just a letter for venting, so i know this obviously won’t get to you and all that, haha! But i wanted to write this to you just so you know i miss you. You know i do, as much as i tell you you’re a butthead! Just remember that, if we never get to see each other again, okay?

Love,  
Alfred”


	2. Chapter 2

Ice.  
All Arthur could see, from here onto the horizon, was ice. And a few campfires and tents and bunker doors here and there, but ice. And lots of it.

You see, Arthur had flown to America when the rain started in hope of at least being in a place with less rain, but knowing his luck, it wasn’t any better. But while he was there, he hoped that he’d at least be able to see Alfred again, even if that was a bit of a stretch. He had an immensely heavy bag logging on his back, which was a pain in the arse, but if he was going to be stuck here as long as he thought - which, he probably was - he was going to need supplies, food, sleeping bags, the lot. He also had things for Alfred, because knowing him, he’d be lacking in the item department. He was boarded up in the tornado cellar of a hotel during the hail to the earthquakes, so he didn’t know much of what happened, but most of the buildings were destroyed or in shackles. He had left Peter at home, alone, because he figured he wouldn’t be long, but it looked like he might be stuck in this area for quite a long time, so he hoped that Peter was alright. If his plane landed in the right location, he was in LA - or close to it. This would mean Alfred was really close, considering he lived in this general vicinity.

The sun was rapidly setting, and so he needed to find a place to stay. He was afraid people might rob or attack him if he slept in the open, so his first instinct was to find a bunker, although it was highly unlikely anyone would let him in. He was an older guy, and he also had a British accent - not American - which would likely set off a red flag. He had no idea as to why though, considering he was a rather well-kept individual. Even if he ended up sleeping in a run-down store’s restroom, it was worth a try.

As the horizon grew darker and he approached the first door, he felt a soft breeze approaching him as he realised people were cutting through the ice obstructing the ocean barely a few miles away. It was clearly visible, now that there were no houses, buildings, or greenery obstructing it. Not wanting to get distracted, he swiftly knocked on the bunker door. Quickly, a lady who looked to be a tad younger than him answered the door.

She had braided golden blonde locks of hair, and a shorter stature. Red glasses complimented her green eyes, and she was wearing a grey loose shirt, with what he assumed were denim jeans. A casual outfit, while he was wearing a green suit. Interesting.

“Uh... what do you need?” The girl asked with a tone of impatience passing over her voice. He realised how long he sat there idle.  
“Oh! Yes! You see, my name’s Arthur. A... friend of mine lives near here, but.. obviously i’m unable to find him, so I was wondering if i could stay with you?” He said, shaking the smaller woman’s flushed hand.   
“Well, uh, i’ll have to talk to my mom about it, but you can come in. It’s warm in here. My name is Brooklyn by the way, but you can call me Brooke.” She smiled as she helped him down a yellow wooden ladder.

When he reached downstairs, he realised how much of a handful her family must be. Two boys, who looked to be around the age of 6 years, were colouring pictures on a table while three teenaged girls were brushing and braiding each other’s hair, while talking in loud voices about... whatever it was they were talking about. There looked to be a separate room, too, which he assumed was where the parent(s) were staying since Brooklyn had walked inside. 

Spotting a chair near where the girls were sitting on the tile, he gladly took a seat. The place had heating systems, and his legs were practically frozen at this point. The girls gave him interested looks.

“Who’re you?” They asked in unison, with wide, curious eyes. 

“Oh. Your friend - or sister - uh, Brooklyn is letting me stay with you guys. I hope that’s alright.” Almost exactly as the words escaped his mouth, he heard a door open. A lady strode through the door, with two babies held in her arms. There were bags under her eyes as she smiled. “Hello Arthur! My name’s Juby, and you’ve already met my daughter Brooke. You can stay with us for a few nights if you’d like, we already have 10 people here, so one more wouldn’t be much of a handful. These are my other daughters Chloe, Zoey, and Zaria - my sons, Roy and George - and these two handfuls, Elizabeth and Micheal. You can make yourself at home if you’d like.” She grinned and chuckled, as she sat down, exhausted. “Thank you, ma’am. This is extremely kind of you to do.” He beamed, shaking Juby’s hand.

“It’s no issue! We love to help people out. Also, i hope you find your friend soon enough. May I ask, whereabouts are you from?” The woman asked, her eyes with the same curious and interested air as the daughters’.  
“Oh! I’m from England. Traveled here to meet my friend, but obviously that backfired.” He chuckled, nonchalantly placing his head on his palm. 

“That’s quite the ways away. Well, i hope you have a good stay here. The little ones awoke and are stirring, i better go take care of that.” She rose herself from the chair adjacent to his, and he waved as she re- entered the separate room. As he turned his head, Brooklyn was preparing coffee.

“Would you like some, sir?” She offered, with a kind aura of enthusiasm.

“I’m sorry, but I’m considerably more of a tea person. I thank you for the kind gesture!” He nodded. At some point, though, he needed to just ignore being picky and drink something, as he was getting very thirsty. It seemed to be getting late though, so he unpacked his sleeping cot, and rolled it out on the floor. He looked around - most of the other children were snoozing. Brooklyn was at the table, sipping a mug while silently watching over them.

“Why aren’t you sleeping too? Surely you’re a kid like them, you need your sleep.” He stated, in confusion. A child needed their sleep.

“Insomnia. Had it since the cool flashes started. Also, i’m 15.” She politely chuckled, and set her mug down. “You’ve probably been a long way. Don’t worry about me, and get your sleep.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this was a good enough chapter to make up for my absence!

Emil stared off into the distance. Ice? Seriously? He had been on vacation in Denmark with Tino, Berwald, Peter and Lukas. They had been staying with Mathias, at his house, as much as Emil pressured them to let him go to Leon’s house. Now, he was staring at seas of pure ice, and as much as he loved the cold, he expected a nice atmosphere when he was told that he was to come here. He droopily looked behind him as Lukas approached him, wearing a deep blue scarf as he looked onward. “It’s not that bad. Imagine for people living in the Americas.” Lukas said, in his usual monotonous voice. 

“Whatever,” Emil said. He just wanted the world to go back to normal, but, as always, nothing in his life was ever set on being normal. He pulled his phone out, and stared at his lock screen. It was him and Leon, sitting together. Emil was smiling, and Leon was leaning on his shoulder, sticking his tongue out. For them being two very distant and cold souls, they acted quite happy when they were around each other. He also had to stare at the around 20 missed calls from Leon, because he wasn’t paying attention before the earthquakes that cut off cell reception started. He hoped Leon was okay... and, well, Yao and the others too.

Lukas tapped Emil’s shoulder subtly. He turned Emil over to the north of where he was previously standing. “You should help Mathias out.” Mathias was trying - and failing - at getting one of the phone lines working again. People had come out of their shelters to watch him stumble. Emil couldn’t help but chuckle. “Lukas, why don’t you help him?” Emil said, encouragingly. Lukas had been acting rather distant since the wipeout started. Lukas nodded, and went to the ladder leading toward the telephone pole.

Oh, right, people were calling it the Wipeout. Well, that or Disaster, and Wipeout seemed more sophisticated than just... Disaster. Anyways, Emil slowly sat himself down on the slippery ice as Tino and Hanatamago came running toward him. 

“Berwald deiced to help out Mathias and Lukas. You doing alright, Emil?” Tino asked, sitting next to him.

“I’m doing fine,” Emil said, with a melancholic look on his face. There were a plethora of things that weren’t fine, but Tino probably wouldn’t understand.

“I know you want to see Leon. I’ll get you to him, I promise. I know he’s fine. He’s in good hands, between Yao and the others there.” He smiled and patted Emil’s back, before Tino’s attention was drawn to a heavily-clothed Peter in the distance.  
“Look, mom! I’ve got a snow coat on! And a scarf! And boots!” He waddled around.   
“Oh, did dad overdress you again? Also, I’m your father, Peter.” Tino laughed, running over to Peter. Hanatamago departed from Emil’s lap, and Emil just went back to listening to his battery-powered MP3 player. God, he always took downloading things off the internet for granted...

When he stared at Tino, Peter, and a smiling (for once) Berwald, he started wondering what it’d be like if he had a family like that. Sure, he had Lukas, but besides him and Leon, Emil was lacking a true “family”. After more thorough thought on it, though, he would probably be considered the ‘child’ of the family, and a child was one thing he was not. He laid down on the sleek surface of the ice - the sun was setting, and he was tired. They had been staying either outside in the cold, wrapped in blankets and each other’s warmth, or occasionally would switch and have one trio stay in the bunker and one keep watch, each for half the night. The bunker wasn’t big enough for 6 people and a dog here, so until they found a bigger one or a replacement solution, it was alternate sleep patterns or sleep outside. Emil found the frigid weather rather refreshing, compared to the warm weather and bright lights he was used to with Leon, so he often slept outside. If he was able to watch Hanatamago, that left room for Peter, Tino, Berward, Mathias and Lukas to fit themselves into the beds residing in the bunker. Emil was glad, but he was scared to watch the small dog, because he’d often wander off while Emil had drifted to sleep like any person would. 

When the moon started to rise, Emil found his blankets which were hanging on a fishing line between the telephone poles, and curled up. It was Lukas and Mathias’ turn to sleep in the bunker, so Tino, Peter, Berwald, and Hanatamago soon joined Emil curled on the ground.

“The ice and all the cold stuff will go away, right, dads?” Peter said, sounding upset. Another one of his friends probably fell ill.  
“It will,” Tino said, reassuringly. Even if they were stuck like this forever, already the residents of the Nordic countries from where all 5 of them had resided had already partnered up to work together- they would, undoubtedly, make the best of any situation that was thrown toward their way. Mathias had already made rather impressive progress on the power lines today, what came next? Tino planned on clearing out some of the ice to make room for the ocean to poke out - if there was any - so that all the people residing here could fish and get food that was needed. Lukas had already started handing out little things, like soup cans or instant coffee, to people who needed it. Peter helped Berwald make home-made clothing. It seemed like Emil was the only one who wasn’t helping out, and that made him feel rather useless. Why would he be taking up useful room and being an asset of the residency when he wasn’t doing anything to help?

After some pep talk from Tino and a drowsy Berwald, Emil soon heard Peter drift off to sleep. Not soon after, he was the only one awake, and decided to grab some paper from his bag. He grabbed an empty beer bottle from their old bottle stash (somehow Tino’s alcohol survived but not Emil’s phone) and wrote a message-in-a-bottle to Leon.

...

To  
Leon Wang

I know we may never see eachother again, but if this reaches you, i want you to know how much i want to see you again.

We are helping build a residential area back up, kind of. Mathias is working on getting telephone poles working again, Tino is clearing ice up so we can fish, Peter and Berwald are knitting clothing and scarves, and Lukas is handing food and beverages out. I just can’t seem to find out how to help.

If you find this letter someday, know i’d kill to see you again. You may be thousands of miles away, but i’ll get to you, somehow.

...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feliciano wakes up in a rather strange place, and meets some new people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long!  
> The next chapter won't be that long of a wait. <3

The perky brunette Feliciano awoke slowly because he felt extremely cold. When he woke up, he finally found himself on steel flooring. Where was he? When he looked around, he saw he was in some kind of vehicle, and Ludwig was nowhere to be found. Where were they going? Was Ludwig driving this car? When he retrieved the strength to stand up, he saw there were metal bars enclosing some of the car’s windows. When he looked outside, everything was gone. How long was he sleeping? The last thing he could remember was a lot of hail and rain. Ludwig was there, to keep him safe, but he suddenly passed out and that was all he could remember from the past week. 

Nobody else was in the back of this truck, which was rather concerning. He realized he had nothing with him other than the clothes he had on his back – which upset him, considering wherever he was going probably wouldn’t have any food he liked.

He sat against the steel panels of the truck and tried to comb his hair with his fingers. Luckily, he could sort of see a reflection of himself in the walls, so he could at least see that he was making progress. He grunted at the little curl of hair that never stayed down, and then just sighed, sitting back down, until the truck came to an abrupt stop.

He was instantly thrown to the adjacent wall of the truck, and his head was the first thing to crash into the wall. He winced and let out a little whine, and rubbed where it had it vigorously. He never did well with pain, and Ludwig was always there to comfort him – so that was never an issue – but he had never had to deal with a lot of pain, and, alone, at that. He curled up in a ball like an armadillo, until he heard a noise from the large door of the truck.

“You awake?” He heard a young man’s voice. Immediately, he sat up.  
“Uh, yeah, I’m awake,” he said, nervously. “Uh, um, where are you taking me?”  
The man rubbed his head. “Er, we found ya alone n the ground, and you’re bein’ taken to a shelter with others that we found alone.”  
Alone? If Feliciano was found alone, that means Ludwig wasn’t there – how could that be, since Ludwig went to sleep right next to him?  
Hoping that Ludwig might be at this shelter, Feliciano nodded, and hopped out of the back of the truck along with the man.  
They reached an expanse of tents, which seemed a bit too little for shelter considering he was freezing his ass off out here – but, it was probably a little warmer inside the tents. From what he could see on the signs placed on the tents, it looked like they were sorted by age – kids ages 4-10 in one tent, 11-15 in another… et cetera.

“How old are ya again?” The man asked.  
“Oh. I’m… I’m 20 years old, sir.” He tried to smile, but his mind was frantic. If Ludwig was here, he would find him in the same tent he was going in – unless there were multiple for each age group? He just hoped he’d see Ludwig again soon. In the past few years they had been together, Feliciano was hardly ever alone, and so he was quite fearful of what might happen here – after all, he was not that good at defending himself.

The man had lead him to the tent he was to stay in, and there were only a couple other people in there with him. No familiar faces, he thought. At least, from what he could see – a lot of the faces that were visible seemed very rough and beaten.

“A new one?” A tattered woman approached Feliciano, and sat next to him. He was a bit shaken by the sudden touch from this stranger, but he nodded anyway.  
“I’m new too. Lost my family.” She looked up. Feliciano felt bad – he was not doing well without his lover, he could only imagine being missing from a whole family. The girl’s hair was well kept, for being stuck in freezing cold for however long it has been. He sat against the wall of the tent, and tried to cope with the pain in his head. He eventually got used to it, and tried to mentally analyze everyone in the tent that was with him – there was a girl next to him with long, brown hair, which had a stray curl sticking out. She looked to be around her later teenage years, maybe 16-18?  
There was also a rather well built man sitting in the corner, looking at a photo of some sort. The girl seemed rather happy for being stuck in a place like this, also without her family, so he tried to make small talk.

“How is your family? What are they like?” He asked.  
“Oh, well, one of them has brown hair and eyes but I don’t like him as much as a friend of mine. And then I have a brother who has brown hair and eyes as well, but he’s really distant and hangs out with this Icelandic kid all the time… and then I have that friend I was talking about, he has black hair and brown eyes and he’s really cool but also very quiet. He’s also quite smart.” She smiled. “I only wish they were here with me right now.”

“Haha, woah! The one with black hair you were talking about sounds just like a friend of mine.” He smiled. “What’s your name?” He asked.

“Oh! Xiao Mei. But you can call me Mei.” The girl responded, giggling. “What about you?” she asked.  
“Oh! My name is Feliciano Vargas, but, feel free to call me Feli.” He smiled. He was glad he was able to make someone happy, especially in such an unfamiliar place.

Luckily, in the tent they were given sleeping bags, although rather low quality ones. He looked out of the tent – the sun had already gone down – him and Mei must have been rather absorbed in their talking. She turned out to be from Taiwan, and her friend was Japanese – which eerily reminded him of Kiku – though it was quite unlikely that Kiku was who she was talking about. He eventually settled into his sleeping bag and let sleep envelop him.


	5. Chapter 5

Ludwig had woken up on a seat, much different than his bed.

He was in a car. Who’s car? Was it Feli driving? No, this was far too good and calm driving for Feli. He would have also been awoken sooner.

“You awake, bro?” he heard a familiar voice ask from the front seat. Ah, it was Gilbert. But where were they going, and where was Feli? Also, what the hell happened outside? All he could see was ice. He was surprised the road had been cleared enough for driving. It was still snowing.

There was absolutely no way Feliciano would survive on his own in this weather.

Although Ludwig has certainly seen a strong and dominating side to Feliciano, those were different times. When it wasn’t below 0 degrees outside, and... well, Feli was with Ludwig. That was where they were comfortable.

After Ludwig recollected himself, he replied to his brother. “Where’s Feliciano?” he asked, impatiently.

“Ludwig, i’m sorry, i had to leave him there-“ Gilbert said, before being cut off by a slap from Ludwig, who had unbuckled and leaned forward.

“What the fuck, man?!?” Gilbert said, pulling the car to the side of the road. “I had to leave him because, listen. I’m trying to make my way to Nova Scotia.” Gilbert sighed. “The way i’m getting there can only hold 3 people.”

Ludwig was furious. “That doesn’t mean you have to take me! Arschloch!” Ludwig said, fuming.

“I couldn’t leave you there!” Gilbert argued. “You’re my brother. I can’t stand to see you like that.” Gilbert said, a sigh escaping his lips.

“Why the Scheiße not? I am strong! I can make it through!” He pounded a fist against the middle console of the car. “Feliciano wouldn’t be able to. You don’t understand.” Ludwig then gathered himself and groped at the handle of the car door.

“No, stop. It’s useless - we’re far out of town by now.” Gilbert said. “Even if you tried walking back to your rubble of what was your house to find Feliciano, it’s so freezing cold you’d at least go numb.”

Ludwig sighed. Where were they, anyways? “How far is it?” he asked.

“Well, you’ve been sleeping for about an hour, so... we’re probably in around Neuruppin by now.”

Neuruppin back to Berlin was a 14 hour walk, roughly. When the world was normal, and not frozen. Meaning it’d take twice as long.

“Seriously?” He sighed. All he had to do was somehow get to Feliciano before they went to Nova Scotia, apparently. “Why are we going to Nova Scotia anyway?”

Gilbert silently pulled out what looked like a tattered Canadian newspaper. “Francis gave this to me.” He pointed at a paragraph that had a blonde, purple-eyed man in it. He had a stray curl of hair sticking out. Ludwig scanned through what he could read of the paragraph.

Matthew Williams.  
Gone missing.  
Last known whereabouts - Trenton, Nova Scotia.

Gilbert sighed. He looked very upset. In fact, it was probably the most upset Ludwig had seen him in a while - Gilbert was usually quite bubbly. “It’s my only hope at finding him.”

Hastily, Gilbert cleared his throat and folded the paper back up. “Anyways, to get to Canada, i need to first talk to the Nordics. Apparently, their little society in Vejle is more developed than anyone else’s, so we’re heading there and hoping to get a boat or raft. Matthias will guide us, and we’ll stop in Stokkseyri, Iceland. Then we should be on our way to Trenton.” Gilbert took a deep breath. “I know it’s ambitious, but if you could work with me…”

“Not until we get back Feliciano.”

Ludwig was rather persistent. It wasn’t right to leave someone alone, especially in this weather. He would probably have been taken to the shelter in Potsdam by now, so it would probably be an hour drive back.

“Listen. I know Matthew is important to you, but you should know by that, that Feliciano is equally as important to me. We can get both back, I promise. Just turn this car around, please.” Ludwig could be comforting and reasonable sometimes.

Gilbert sighed. “Alright, fine. But that means we’ll have to take separate rafts if we end up in Vejle. Francis told me that Matthias’s would only carry 3 people, and that was that. Unless you want to split up and stay in Vejle with the Nordics and Feliciano, our best bet would be to wait.” The whole time they had been parked, Ludwig didn’t notice that Gilbert was studying a map. It only included Europe, so he was likely relying on memory for Canada’s locations. He had only been there a few times, so Ludwig was surprised.

“Well, if Feliciano was left alone there, which… he was, he was probably picked up and taken to the Potsdam shelter. Our best bet is to drive back to Berlin, then to Potsdam if he isn’t there.” Ludwig said. Gilbert put the car into drive.

While they were driving, Ludwig wondered how Gilbert got his hands on a rather good quality – for it being in basically post-apocalypse conditions outside.

“How’d you get your hands on a car like this anyway?” Ludwig asked.

“I found a guy. Paid him basically all the cash I had on me. It’s not like I can use it anyways. Cash is merely paper now, all anyone want are food and materials.” Gilbert handed him a key, which looked like it was to their old house. “Be careful. You’re with me right now, but if you go on your own…” Gilbert sighed. “Who knows. People are ravaging for supplies. If they see you with something they want, they will take it. These roads are pretty empty though, it looks like most people have been taken to the shelter.” Ludwig sighed at that statement. He had gotten extremely tired over time, so he evended up leaning against the window of the car, and drifting to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alfred finds what he's been looking for.

Alfred was precariously pacing around the ice. He was extremely bored, and there was nothing to do out there - the only things he could do was travel to where town was and ransack abandoned houses and stores, find people, or help with the re-development. Honestly, none of those caught his interest, considering he was feeling generously lazy that day. He started exploring the place.

While he was walking around, he caught sight of quite the few hares. And female rabbits, too. Probably, he wasn't all too sure - he didn't even know if the rabbit he had when he was younger was a guy or a girl. And it wasn't like he was about to check back then, either - he should have known his own pet's gender, first of all, and second, it wasn't his place for that. Anyway, after his thoughts were more on track, he remembered that his phone survived all this - and with the help of some stored battery-powered power banks - was sitting in his pocket. He lugged it out to check the calendar - it was June 29th, according to his phone - though he had no satellite access, obviously, so it may or may not be wrong. Looking a bit behind, he saw Arthur was supposed to have arrived in Los Angeles on the 22nd of May. Wait, what? Surely, he wouldn't have arrived here. It was raining quite a lot back then.

After some more thorough thought, he realized that the rain that was here back then was mild compared to regular storms in England. He also thought that he would not want to leave Arthur alone in such terrible conditions, so his goal now was to find Arthur. But where would he be?

...

After checking a few bunkers and tents, all claiming no sign of the Arthur he described, he quite considered giving up. I mean, what if Arthur really wasn't coming? What if he genuinely decided not to, and was still in England? Or what if it was worse...

He quickly shook that thought from his head. Surely, Arthur would be fine. He was an adult, who could take care of himself in a situation such as this. He was positive that wherever Arthur was, he was alive and well.

After snapping out of his thoughts, he noticed a young woman of rather short stature raise out of a bunker door. One he did not visit yet, considering it was a little farther away. What if where this young woman was staying enclosed the Arthur he had missed so much? He laughed brightly and sprinted hopefully toward the girl.

When she was in close enough view, he over viewed the looks of the woman he was approaching. She had long, braided, blonde hair, green eyes, and red glasses. Her outfit was that of a traditional Asian schoolgirls' but with a touch of bright pink on the skirt and the bow. She seemed to have been getting firewood from above ground. When she started heading back into the bunker, he decided to attempt at getting her attention.

He waved hands frantically. "Hey! Hold on!"

"Hua- Hmm? Hello?" She quickly gained composure and brushed her skirt off. "May i help you?" She asked, with a bit of a forced smile on her face.

Alfred stopped running and took a breath in to regain himself. "Ah, yes, I'm Alfred F. Jones. I was wondering if you might be with a certain Arthur Kirkland?" He asked, hopefully. While the odds were against him, it was worth a shot - i mean, why not, right?

"Arthur Kirkland... Tall, green eyed, dirty blonde haired man? In his mid-20's or so?" She motioned with her hands. Alfred's eyes lit up.

"Yeah! That's him. I've been looking for him for, well, a few hours now, and i was wondering if you have him with you? Or have seen him, like, at all." He replied, out of breath.

The small woman blinked. "I'll tell him you're looking for him."

...

The young woman had conversed with Arthur, describing Alfred to him as a 'brash, loud, energetic man with ice-blue eyes and blonde hair, but a tad lighter than yours'. Immediately, Arthur knew that would be Alfred, so he quickly ran up the stairs. Before he reached the top, however, he calmed himself as to appear composed before the younger man.

"Alfred!" He said, trying to sound calm but a tone of excitement slipped out.

"Arthur? Crap, it's you!" Alfred ran and embraced Arthur in a bear hug. They laughed, almost falling over in each other's arms. It had been a year since they had seen each other in person, which was too much in both of their genuine opinions. The young woman, who's name was Brooklyn, subtly smiled, watching them see each other again - her and her family then saw Arthur off, and Alfred started leading him around. Along the way, they chatted about what was happening lately - Arthur was learning to take care of children as he watched over the young ones at the bunker Brooklyn loved in, Alfred was learning to cut ice blocks for water and chop trees for firewood, et cetera. Fourth of July was, apparently, coming up rather soon - he wanted to find something to do, but in the current state of the world, it would be difficult to discover anything. Certainly, any fireworks or other extravagant display would be out of the question, so he would have to keep it simple. Arthur was rather non-compliant when it came to them brainstorming ideas, considering he didn't have much of a follow in the entertainment department.

Arthur really was happy that Alfred was alive and safe, as with Alfred's brash ignorance to himself and self-care it was quite unlikely he'd make it out alive, or at least without a few injuries. Admittedly, it had been rather easy for Arthur, but this wasn't the first time Arthur had been through some rough things. Nonetheless, it was good that Alfred was here next to him, and safe.

As the sun set closer to the horizon, Alfred led Arthur back to his shelter in due time. It wasn't in the nicest condition after everything, but it was warmer than outside, and that was honestly all Arthur wanted. He had thought it wasn't too bad outside, but after feeling a lukewarm room after a little while he changed his mind. Alfred cleaned up, and put away the supplies that the other man had bought him, then suggested they get to sleep. Luckily, their bed was fit for two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) || Guys, i can't believe this story is in the top Wattpad rankings! Thank you, so so much. As of May 17, 2018, the rankings for it are :
> 
> #140 in DenNor
> 
> #402 in UsUk
> 
> #119 in SuFin
> 
> #354 in Post-Apocalyptic
> 
> #263 in GerIta
> 
> #162 in PruCan
> 
> #81 in HongIce
> 
> The next chapter will feature the Nordics, then we'll go back to the perspective of Feliciano, then Ludwig & Gilbert. After that, we'll be able to see the perspective of Matthew and Leon. I'm sorry that this fanfic is sorta messy, I promise it'll get better!
> 
> \- Oliver ||

**Author's Note:**

> \---
> 
> Welcome to my first fanfiction here on the Archive! Been working on this one for a while~ I hope it's enjoyable!
> 
> \- Oliver/purafollia


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